The new raspberry cultivar designated ‘Pacific Starlet’ is shown herein. Botanically known as Rubus idaeus L., ‘Pacific Starlet’ is a primocane-fruiting raspberry that was discovered in a seedling field in May 2010 in Watsonville, Calif. ‘Pacific Starlet’ originated from open pollinated (OP) seed of an unknown variety. An increasing number of patented primocane-fruiting raspberries are discovered using material sourced from OP fruit. One example is the raspberry cultivar ‘Vintage’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,198), which was derived from open pollinated seed of the patented proprietary variety ‘Isabel’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,340). Another example is the variety ‘Diamond Jubilee’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 25,455), which was derived from open-pollinated fruit that was purchased in a retail store and thought to be the patented proprietary variety ‘Driscoll Maravilla’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,804).
The present cultivar, ‘Pacific Starlet’, offers significant advantages over the existing, patented primocane-raspberry cultivar ‘Vintage’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,198). For example, ‘Pacific Starlet’ offers typically firmer fruit than ‘Vintage’. Another example of an existing patented primocane-raspberry is ‘Marcela’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 17,819). In contrast to ‘Marcela’, ‘Pacific Starlet’ has much larger fruit, though both are firm and have bright non-darkening color. A third example of an existing, patented primocane-raspberry variety is ‘Pacific Deluxe’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,074), a previous release from the same breeding program as the present cultivar, ‘Pacific Starlet’. The present cultivar, ‘Pacific Starlet’ is a significant improvement over ‘Pacific Deluxe’ particularly for color; ‘Pacific Deluxe’ tends to darken significantly in postharvest cold storage, whereas ‘Pacific Starlet’ does not darken when picked and cold stored. Other improvements of ‘Pacific Starlet’ over ‘Pacific Deluxe’ include reduced fruit defects, easier fruit detachment, and lower acidity.
Thus, ‘Pacific Starlet’ is a new and distinct primocane-fruiting raspberry cultivar that can be identified, among other things, by its bright non-darkening berry color in cold storage, large size, ease of detachment and lower acidity. Further, leaf hue on the lower section of canes of ‘Pacific Starlet’ is distinct, with an upper color of The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart—Fifth Edition (“R.H.S.”) 137D often flecked with the yellowish-green color RHS 151D.